Headlines

Dems seethe over Bloomberg’s GOP donations: ‘The hubris is unbelievable’

Facebook was mystery firm bidding against Google to buy Fitbit, sources say

Poll: 50% want [Trump] removal

Polls show 34 percent of black likely voters approve of Trump

Pompeo appears to back Trump on Ukraine election meddling probe

Fed’s Brainard argues for capping interest rate levels during the next turndown

Wintry weather threatens to snarl holiday traffic ...

Waters: Ben Carson does not have ‘intelligence’ to be HUD secretary

Positive signs grow on U.S.-China trade deal

US leads greenhouse gas emissions per capita, report finds

Jerad’s new assignment: Overseeing construction of border wall ...

Second Schiff staffer linked to Burisma-backed think tank

2016 Predictions

Once again I post some of the more interesting predictions made at our traditional New Year's Eve festivities:

- Kasich is on Republican ticket with Ted Cruz
               
 - ISIS will be eliminated but darker force takes its place

- One of George’s blogs will be picked up by major newspaper

- Fitbit recalls millions of units – give false sense of higher activity

- Bill Cosby is NOT found guilty

- Merkel is out in Germany                          

- Saudi Arabia will be attacked by ISIS or al Qaeda

- Hillary wins – appoints Trump Secretary of State

- A terrorist strike in London and Berlin

- An illness takes Donald Trump out of presidential race                 

And here are a few of the right-on predictions from last year:

- ISIS creates chaos in France 

- De Blasio will take NYC back to the chaos under David Dinkins

- Obamacare will suffer serious setbacks

- Patriots win Super Bowl

- Malaysian Airlines flight 370 will finally be located

Timber!!

One by one the big trees in the stock market are getting axed. First it was Alibaba, then Exxon, then Apple, then Twitter, then Disney, then Tesla, then Fitbit ... many of these high fliers after reporting stellar quarters. The only biggies who seem to have escaped this clear-cutting so far have been Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google (the FANG group as christened by Jim Cramer.) What's going on? Yes China is slowing down and may, in fact, be in a recession. And yes, the Federal Reserve Bank is likely going to start raising interest rates next month. But earnings of these mentioned forest-floor timbers have still been improving and future guidance is still positive. So what is wrong?

To me the dramatic price-drops in these mostly high PER (price earnings ratio) stocks are presaging a general market sell-off sometime soon. Generally in stock market down-drafts, it is the high-flying stocks that suffer the most ... and since these stocks have been the investments of last resort as weakness permeated most other market segments (see: Where to Invest), it is now their turn in the barrel. In fact, I suspect that any real weakness in the FANG group will be the final indication that a major stock market correction is upon us.

So keep your powder dry ...